


irreplaceable

by aserenitatum



Series: Unconnected AUs [2]
Category: Greek and Roman Mythology, Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Greek Gods AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-15
Updated: 2018-07-18
Packaged: 2019-06-11 05:36:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15308619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aserenitatum/pseuds/aserenitatum
Summary: “Eh,” Stacie says with a shrug. “Love has nothing to do with marriage.”Aubrey can’t stop thinking about that word. Love.Because she’d known that Stacie had been infatuated with her, but she could never have imagined that Stacie loves her, because Stacie has always said that love brings nothing but pain. Aubrey should have known that being the Goddess of Love does not make one immune to its effects.aka the Greek Gods AU you didn't know you needed





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this came from a greek gods au headcanon I was asked about where Aubrey is Artemis and Stacie is Aphrodite

Aubrey is born on the floating island of Ortygia to Leto and Zeus, hidden from the world after her mother is banished by Zeus’ jealous wife Hera. She’s the first of two, and her brother Apollo comes into the world hours after she does. 

Hera’s banishment doesn’t affect much, because Zeus loves his twins something fierce and Aubrey quickly becomes the favourite of all his children, often sitting in his lap on Mount Olympus and demanding a long list of things that he happily complies with (one of which is that he never force her into marriage). 

Aubrey and Apollo are two sides of the same coin, both of them hunters but she’s always been better than him and when they grow older and their father starts filling his kingdom, Aubrey becomes the Goddess of the Hunt while Apollo becomes the God of Archery. 

She spends more and more time in the forest, becomes one with the nature and even though Aubrey was born to a mother and father, she is also a child of the Moon, who smiles and watches over her. On her adventures in the forest, she comes across Pan who is struck by Aubrey’s beautiful golden locks and gifts her hounds to help with her hunting activities. She finds a group of Oceanides in the mountains, who vow their lives to Aubrey, and when she goes further into the forest, she finds the river of Amnisos and the nymphs there pledge their loyalty to the young Goddess by making her a perfect bow. She meets Cyclops, who makes her the most exquisite silver arrows to go with her bow and she travels through cities, not in search of worship but in search of adventure and she helps women give birth in the same way she’d helped her mother and towns fall at her feet in reverence. 

She’s up in Mount Olympus with some of the other Gods when Stacie is brought in. 

Stacie is the most beautiful woman any of them have ever laid their eyes on and all the Gods spring up eagerly, begging to marry her before Zeus has even welcomed her. Aubrey has no doubt he will welcome her to his kingdom, because Stacie is absolutely stunning and Aubrey knows her father. 

Zeus asks Stacie where she’s from and a story emerges, of how she floated to Cythera on water foam, fully formed, and was greeted on the shore by the Seasons. Some of the younger Gods are surprised by the story but Aubrey isn’t, especially not after she’d heard how Athena had been birthed, and Aubrey also has the thought that her own somewhat normal birth seems to be more the exception than the rule. 

Stacie becomes the Goddess of Love and Aubrey doesn’t pay much attention to her for a while because she has things to do and Apollo to beat in archery competitions. 

Aubrey quickly starts to realise that Stacie isn’t as brain dead and beautiful as she’d first thought. Well, Stacie _is_  beautiful and her only divine duty is to make love but she’s so much more than that. Women and men come from lands far away for her aid in easing their longing and Aubrey learns that Stacie is whip-smart. 

Stacie knows that love isn’t just nice and warm and fluffy feelings, that it clouds your judgment and gnaws at you and just plain hurts. It’s why Stacie doesn’t do anything when Sappho starts writing her love letters and dedicating poems to her, because she has made it very clear to everybody in Olympus that she can indulge in infatuation and but never in love. 

Aubrey, in an effort to curb any feelings she might be developing for Stacie, decides to add more to her plate and tells her father that she wants to become the protectress of childbirth and aid Eileithyia in her duties. Aubrey doesn’t realise that being present at childbirths means that she will come into constant contact with Stacie. 

Love comes in many forms, not just lustful or whorishness, but also between mother and child and Stacie has always been adamant about doing her job correctly and making sure there isn’t a soul in Olympus that has to live without love and it’s something Aubrey has to commend, even if it does make her slowly fall more and more for the Goddess. 

Somewhere along the way, Athena tricks Aubrey into staying a virgin Goddess but Aubrey’s never really wanted a man anyway and their father already promised her that he would never force her to marry against her will. 

“How is the beautiful Goddess of Light doing today?” Stacie flirts one day and Aubrey rolls her eyes as she pretends to be unaffected. 

“You know that’s not what I am,” Aubrey answers and Stacie’s grin widens. 

“Oh, I’m sorry, _Aubrey_ ,” Stacie says and the way she says her name shouldn’t make Aubrey feel as warm as she does. “How is the beautiful Goddess of the Hunt and the Moon, Protectress of Young Women and Childbirth and Bringer of Light doing today?” 

“I’m fine. And you?” 

“Much better now that you’re here,” Stacie flirts and Aubrey needs to remind herself that this is how Stacie is and that she’s this way with everybody and just because she puts effort into learning Aubrey’s official title, does not mean that Aubrey is special to her. 

Also, Aubrey isn’t really sure why she’s become the Protectress of Young Women. She saved Iphigenia but that is just _one_ maiden and saving her does not necessarily mean becoming a patron to all young women, but over time she starts receiving presents, specifically from young maidens. 

Stacie coos from over her shoulder when one day Aubrey unwraps a golden blanket and finds lingerie there with a note telling her that it’s the undergarments a virgin had worn on her wedding night and that it has been sent as a worship gift. 

“Is this why you’ve vowed never to marry a man?” Stacie whispers into her ear. “You’re holding out for a beautiful mortal maiden?” 

In a moment of spark, emboldened by her incredibly beautiful gift, Aubrey turns her head, her lips brushing against Stacie’s cheek as she says, “She doesn’t have to be mortal or a maiden.” 

Stacie looks impressed and impassioned by Aubrey’s words, and their flirtation picks up tenfold. 

Of course, Olympus is not without drama. Hera kicks her son Hephaestus out of Mount Olympus, supposedly because he tried to strike Zeus over his multiple infidelities, but Hebe tells Aubrey that it’s because Hera is ashamed of Hephaestus’ deformities. 

Hephaestus, in true spoiled sibling fashion, does not take his banishment well. He fashions a throne out of gold and invites his mother to visit, who does so because she feels guilty about banishing him to visit, but not enough to let him back into Olympus. When Hephaestus shows her the throne and Hera sits on it, the throne turns into a cage and when Aubrey hears about it, she says to Hebe that they should all have seen that coming because Hephaestus is the God of Metalworking, after all. 

Zeus is very mad and Aubrey wants to roll her eyes because, really, when is he not? But he is apparently angry enough and willing to do anything to get Hera back, which includes offering up somebody he has absolutely no right to offer up. 

Stacie is the last remaining Olympian who hasn’t married, besides Athena, Aubrey, and Hestia who have vowed a life of chastity, and Zeus is so desperate to get his wife back that he promises Stacie to whomever brings Hera back. 

For the first time ever, Aubrey understands the hatred that many hold towards her father. 

Aubrey goes to Apollo and begs him to try to free Hera and when he asks her why she cares so much, Aubrey cannot get the words past her lips. Apollo loves his sister though, and he doesn’t need a good reason, so he tries. Aubrey will always wonder if he’d have tried harder had he known _why_ , but that’s a regret she’ll have to live with. Apollo fails because he only has arrows of gold and they’re no match for Hephaestus’ skills as a master forger. 

Stacie burns with indignation at Zeus’ offer, and her rage leads her to Ares. Ares is disliked by all but she needs his rage and she needs his brute strength because she’d rather be married to Ares than to some unknown demigod with a bout of luck because at least she knows Ares is great in bed. 

Before Ares can even get to Hephaestus and Hera, Dionysus gets involved. Dionysus ruins their chances because he’s always drunk and he misunderstands Zeus’ words. He gets Hephaestus drunk and convinces him to release Hera, which Hephaestus does, and that technically means that Hephaestus was the one to bring Hera back to Zeus and it also means that Stacie now has to marry him. 

As angry as Stacie is, nobody goes against Zeus’ wishes so Stacie marries Hephaestus and _hates_ every minute of it and her only consolation is that Zeus cannot force her to let her husband touch her. 

 

* * *

 

“Aubrey?” 

“Yes?” 

“Did you kill a hunter yesterday?” Stacie asks casually, playing with the fabric of her chiton. 

“Yes.” 

Stacie squints at her because even though she knows Aubrey is strict and harsh with punishments for those who don’t meet her expectations, this is beyond her usual cruelty. “Why?” 

“He saw me bathing in the forest.” 

“And?” 

“And he had the disrespect to stare and not turn away.” 

“So you killed him?” 

“I turned him into a stag.” 

“How did he die, then?” 

“My hounds tore him to pieces.” 

Stacie laughs sharply at that because that _does_  sound more like Aubrey, and it’s clearly not what the blonde is expecting. 

“What?” 

“You don’t find that a bit of an overreaction?” Stacie teases but Aubrey just scoffs. 

“He was a mortal man,” she answers with a dismissive wave of her hand. 

“So if it had not been a mortal or a man, that person would not have met the same fate?” Stacie asks and Aubrey’s eyes snap to hers, the insinuation clear. 

“You’re married,” Aubrey provides unhelpfully. 

“Eh,” Stacie says with a shrug. “Love has nothing to do with marriage.” 

Nothing else happens that day but Aubrey can’t stop thinking about that word. 

Love. 

Because she’d known that Stacie had been infatuated with her, but she could never have imagined that Stacie loves her, because Stacie has always said that love brings nothing but pain.  Aubrey should have known that being the Goddess of Love does not make one immune to its effects. 

Aubrey decides to test the waters and sends Stacie flowers. 

Stacie sends Aubrey her lingerie. 

Aubrey sends Stacie gifts. 

Stacie sends Aubrey more of her lingerie. 

“Soon you’ll be left with no garments,” Aubrey flirts one day. 

“That’s the idea,” Stacie replies, trails her hand down Aubrey’s arm. “Then you’ll be forced to look at me in full nudity and hopefully you’ll do something about it then.” 

Aubrey doesn’t want to wait until that day comes so one evening she appears at Stacie’s favourite love house and finds the Goddess lounging in a clam shell. 

“You’re such a cliché ,” Aubrey says, her words announcing her arrival. 

Stacie grins and dismisses everybody from the room as she crawls out of the large shell. “I can’t believe you’re actually here.” 

“I can’t either,” Aubrey answers even as she unfastens the shawl around her shoulders. 

“I’m glad you are,” Stacie says as she takes Aubrey’s hand and leads her to a secluded alcove with a bed. 

Aubrey removes the last of her garments before reaching for Stacie’s chiton, untying it easily and the fabric pools at her feet and when Aubrey’s gaze falls on the Goddess’ body, Aubrey is reminded of the feeling she’d had the first day she saw Stacie. 

“This hasn’t all been a trick, right? To tempt me out of maidenhood?” Aubrey asks when their lips are only a breath apart. 

“Aubrey, there have been many others but I love only you.” 

Aubrey kisses Stacie then and Stacie urges her down onto the bed and Aubrey has never felt so _loved_ and Stacie has never felt so _happy_ and their love affairs lasts for a very, very long time. 

Love clouds their judgment and love makes them sloppy because their love for one another is strong, but it is still hidden from Hephaestus. 

The Gods are meddlesome, and Helios gets involved when he sees the two Goddesses through a window making love in Hephaestus’ bed and Helios has disliked Aubrey since the Moon had claimed her as her own so he runs off and tells Hephaestus, who is enraged and a master craftsman and he forges a trap. 

Aubrey and Stacie are in bed, naked and closely pressed together and whispering sweet nothings to each other when a golden net falls over them and Aubrey freezes and Stacie’s heart stops. 

Hephaestus, angry that Helios had been right and that his wife is not only being unfaithful to him, but being unfaithful with Aubrey, a supposed virgin Goddess, calls over all the other Gods to bear witness to their infidelity. 

“I’m sorry,” Stacie whispers over and over into Aubrey’s ear as the woman tries to shield herself from the scrutiny and the shame. 

Zeus is extremely disappointed in his daughter and her broken promise and he’s ready to let Hephaestus do whatever he wants to the two when Poseidon steps in and tries to reason with him. Poseidon has always had a soft spot for Stacie because she was formed of the water and she’s therefore technically a child of the sea and the water nymphs worship her and Poseidon cannot afford to anger or tempt the wrath of the water nymphs. 

“I don’t care what happens to them,” Zeus says as he turns away from the bed and Aubrey cries into Stacie’s shoulder because that’s almost worse. 

Hephaestus is angry that he does not get to take revenge on and punish his wife and her lover so Poseidon offers him back his seat in Olympus and tells him in no uncertain terms that this is a compromise he has to accept and Hephaestus is too afraid of Poseidon to try to deny him so he lets the two lovers go. 

“I’m sorry,” Stacie says once they’re alone again and dressed but Aubrey won’t look at her anymore. “Aubrey, I’m so sorry.” 

“It’s not your fault,” Aubrey says through her tears. “Please forgive me.” 

“Please,” Stacie begs, crying as Aubrey turns away from her. 

“I love you,” Aubrey whispers. 

“I love you too,” Stacie says strongly and Aubrey kisses her, slowly and deeply and Stacie isn’t sure why but she cries even harder when Aubrey pulls away. 

“I love you so much,” Aubrey repeats, like a promise, as her fingers slide out of Stacie’s own. 

Stacie’s heart breaks into a million pieces when Aubrey disappears into the forest. 

Falling from grace in Zeus’ eyes is not an easy position for a daughter to be in, and Stacie understands. She understands Aubrey’s decision because she has the protection of her beauty and of her love but Aubrey doesn’t. Apollo might not be as great a hunter as Aubrey, but he’s good enough and there is still a Goddess of Childbirth and there are even some minor deities who can protect women. 

The Moon hides away and Athena becomes Zeus’ new favourite child and Zeus makes it absolutely clear that Aubrey had made the right decision because a broken vow is unforgivable. 

It’s forgivable for Stacie because he needs her, and he needs her Love and it makes Stacie irreplaceable. 

Aubrey is irreplaceable too, but only to Stacie. 

Aubrey’s chair on Mount Olympus remains empty until the end of time. 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there are two chapters to this story  
> comments fuel me <3


	2. Chapter 2

Centuries go by and Aubrey’s seat remains empty and increasingly, so does Stacie’s. 

The Goddess of Love is heartbroken and they all thought it would pass, that she would easily fall into the arms of a new lover the same way she had with the countless ones she’s lost before but centuries pass and it only gets worse. 

Zeus’ kingdom is crumbling under the pressure and Apollo does not benefit from being Zeus’ favourite child the way Aubrey had even though they are twins, but she’s gone now and Zeus needs Apollo and that grants him a certain kind of freedom.

It’s what emboldens him to finally seek out his sister a lifetime after she’s left because he misses Aubrey. They were born together and their whole lives had been intertwined and he misses her and he misses her hounds and he misses her sharp arrows and her even sharper words. 

He goes into the forest and leaves all of his weapons at home as a show of good faith and the nymphs recognise it as such when they let him near her, and Apollo feels a tightness in his chest because even after all this time, they’re still loyal to her and protective of her in a way that he never was and he burns with shame. 

Never wanting to appease Helios for treating her so unfairly in the name of pettiness, Aubrey has stopped going out in the daylight and her hair has turned to the colour of soil and her skin is paler and her eyes are darker and Apollo knows that it’s not just the lack of sun that is to blame for his sister’s new complexion. 

“Mother misses you,” Apollo says and Aubrey’s impressed he’s managed as much because he looks shocked at the person she’s become. 

“She knows where I can be found,” Aubrey says and her voice is no longer light and melodic and Apollo wonders how many years it’s been since she’s used it. 

“She doesn’t want to anger the Gods.” 

Aubrey chuckles and it’s a brittle, harsh sound. “So why are you here?” 

“I don’t care about their wrath.” 

“You should,” she snaps and it’s as if she comes alive with those words. She would never want anybody, her brother or otherwise, to have to suffer her fate and to feel so unwelcome in her father’s kingdom that they would rather stay away than face her father’s disappointment and punishment and all the unpleasantness that comes with it. 

“Please forgive me for not coming sooner,” Apollo whispers between them and it’s a balm to her soul and she deflates and for the first time Apollo sees his sister cry. 

She’s been crying for centuries and the soil around her is rife with flowers and food and the nymphs are desperate to stop her heart-wrenching sobs but Demeter is grateful for the bloom and that beauty can come from such pain. 

Apollo visits her regularly and slowly, carefully urges her to come out in the moonlight. Aubrey is still and forever will be the Goddess of the Hunt and Protectress of Childbirth and Young Women and Bringer of Light, but many have forgotten that she is also a child of the Moon and the Moon weeps for the child she hasn’t laid eyes upon in centuries, for her child so disgraced and so unjustly shamed. 

The Moon weeps for her and though many may have forgotten, Zeus has not; he knows exactly what the Moon had been angry about and he knows who her tears are for all the way in Mount Olympus and his kingdom is crumbling because the Moon refuses to make peace with him and refuses to change the tides and now Poseidon is angry with him, so he sends Hermes to summon Aubrey. 

She doesn’t live in his kingdom and she doesn’t live by his rules anymore and her father cannot take more from her than he already has, so she refuses. 

Hermes, for all his trickery, has been stripped bare of his devices by the nymphs and drops to his knees in front of her and begs her to comply. He has been repeatedly punished for failing to fulfil Zeus’ wishes and shooting the messenger has become a sport to Zeus and he begs, but Aubrey has no mercy left and sends him back to Mount Olympus empty-handed. 

Zeus, too proud to go himself, sends more and more messengers, and they all come back with a resounding no, so he starts sending his Olympians. 

Aubrey comes upon Orion in the forest one night and he is innocent and does not know her past and does not ask questions and they quickly forge a strong friendship. It seems that Aubrey is never permitted to be content and does not get to live in peace because one day Athena visits her to urge her back to Olympus and when Aubrey refuses, Athena suggests they take a stroll together along the water. Athena playfully teases Aubrey that she could not shoot a bobbing sea monster a bit away in the water and Aubrey takes the bait, easily shoots the sea monster but when her arrow pierces the body, it turns out to be Orion. Aubrey has never missed a shot and her only friend dies by her hand. 

The Moon cries at the cruelty and hangs him in the sky but not even that is enough. 

Aubrey loves Apollo with all her heart but his visits have brought the other Gods to her and have brought nothing but more heartache with them, so she runs again, further and deeper into the forest and when Apollo goes in search of her, he’s no longer permitted past the nymphs. 

 

* * *

 

Being needed in Olympus has granted Stacie immunity from Zeus’ punishment for her infidelity and it has kept her safe but it has also kept her shackled in a loveless life. 

Her work ethic suffers and her duty had only ever been to make love so she does just that and nothing else. She allows men and women, mortal or gods, to make love to her and nothing matters because she can’t feel anything anymore. She no longer counsels and she no longer protects and she still does not let her husband so much as touch her. She goes through centuries in a numb haze and soon enough they stop coming to her for aid. 

The Goddess of Love has been betrayed by it and she becomes a cautionary tale. 

The men think they can fuck it out of her and save her from the loss and the women think that they can replace Aubrey and ease the Goddess out of heartbreak but none of them can so they slowly stop trying. 

Stacie stops going to childbirths because watching Eileithyia bring children into the world without Aubrey’s light feels wrong and generations of mothers and children are left without love, a fate certainly worse than being cursed. 

She only appears in Mount Olympus when summoned, sits in her chair for only as long as is necessary and ignores the burning in her chest at the sight of the empty chair. 

During one of their meetings where even Hades is present, Aubrey’s lack of presence is made even stronger and Zeus tries to trade Aubrey’s seat away. Stacie is too numb to say or do anything and she knows it would have made no difference because her former lover has an iron will and the fact that she’s stayed away for centuries means that she will never return. 

Apollo sparks to life in her stead and burns with indignation and fights and Stacie almost wants to tell him to stop but she doesn’t because she does not want to draw attention to herself and she has no right to defend the seat when she is the very reason it’s left bare. 

Stacie becomes even more desolate after that and Zeus is growing desperate because his kingdom is crumbling and a whole generation is living without love and not even Eros can keep up the work of his mother. 

Zeus is not a forgiving father or a forgiving God, but “Your seat is still yours.” 

“I don’t want it.” 

“What do you want?” Zeus thunders but it has no effect on Aubrey, who has had centuries to come to terms with her father’s displeasure. 

“To be left alone.” 

“Do you want her?” 

“She is not yours to give!” Aubrey shouts, because Zeus giving away Stacie without consent is what got them into this predicament in the first place, even if Zeus is incapable of understanding that. “She never was!”

The forest shakes with her anger and Gaia trembles beneath him and the Moon hides away and her hounds stand at attention and for the first time ever, Zeus feels unsafe. 

Zeus grows desperate and does not possess the restraint needed to not be meddlesome, so he appears to Stacie as a vision of Aubrey one night when Stacie lingers between haze and consciousness. 

Stacie cries and lets him into her bed but as soon as he kisses her, she wakes sharply and kicks him out in a fury. 

“How dare you?!” she screams through her tears, enraged. “How dare you pretend to be her?!” 

She curses him but nothing happens and Stacie easily puts two and two together because heartbreak has not made her any less smart and she recognises the sinister plan for what it is and she knows there is only one capable of such perversion so she curses all of his mortal sons. 

Zeus tries to stop her and tries to plead with her to nullify her words but she holds her own form of power, the power that has kept her in Mount Olympus all these centuries and she does not grant him mercy and Zeus watches helplessly as his sons go through life unloved and start dying by their own hands of loneliness. 

Stacie cries herself to sleep and doesn’t leave her bed anymore. 

Hephaestus does not enjoy being married to a Goddess who will not stop crying and who will allow all but him to touch her. She is no longer wanted by one and all, and although her unsurpassable beauty remains, she has become a shell of the Goddess she was before and he does not wish to remain chained to a husk so he releases her. 

He makes the declaration on Mount Olympus and Apollo snarls that he should have released her the day he released Hera from her cage, but Hephaestus does not enjoy his goodwill being trampled on so he picks a fight with Apollo. 

Apollo has never been a vengeful or wrathful God, his sister having always been the more intemperate of the two of them, but Aubrey no longer wishes to see him and as centuries have passed Apollo has become more and more disillusioned with his father and his kingdom so he takes the fight. Apollo may be the God of Archery, but he is also God of the Plague and Hephaestus doesn’t stand a chance against him so he is victorious. He spares Hephaestus at the last moment to send a clear message to the other Gods before leaving Olympus and finding refuge in his mother’s arms. 

Leto turns Zeus away when he comes to reason with his son and Zeus is torn because his kingdom is crumbling. Stacie no longer freely gives out love and he could work around not having Aubrey to protect maidens and bring light to children but without Apollo, he has no hunters and without the Moon, he has no tides and without Poseidon, he has no grip on power. 

 

* * *

 

Stacie tries to claw her way out of the darkness surrounding her and leaves her home, finds herself in the forest and instantly regretting it because everything reminds her of Aubrey and all the time they would spend away from everybody else to just be together. 

She finds a mortal man at the foot of a tree and his body is beautiful and Stacie just wants to feel something again but when she gives herself to Adonis and he eagerly takes, she feels nothing but cold and hollow. When she leaves, she barely makes it far enough before a wild boar mauls him to death so she buries him in the ground, fertilises the earth with his red blood and when roses start growing, she still feels nothing but complete emptiness. 

“You need to go to her,” Apollo says to Stacie one night that he’s in her bed. 

Apollo looks so much like Aubrey and Stacie’s heart has not stopped hurting since her lover left and she’s not making rational choices anymore so she’d tried to seduce Apollo and pretend that he’s _her_ and to ease her pain but Apollo refuses her. 

It’s not surprising to Stacie that he does because Apollo is married and he has always made his stance on extra-marital affairs very clear, had always said that there are no bonds more meaningful than the bond of marriage. 

Apollo does not refuse her for this reason; he refuses her because he knows that everybody sees the Goddess of Love when they look at Stacie, but all he can see is his sister’s heartbreak mirrored in Stacie’s eyes. 

Stacie shakes her head at his words and curls deeper into her heavy sheets. 

“It’s been too long,” she whispers, voice cracking with the effort of speaking. 

“She still loves you.” 

“Then why isn’t she here with me?” Stacie pleads and Apollo can feel the fabric near his shoulders get wetter with tears. 

“Why aren’t you there with her?” 

“I wouldn’t know where to find her,” Stacie says, but they both know that’s a lie. 

 

* * *

 

“I stayed to protect you.” 

Aubrey stops cold, suddenly freezing despite the warm water of the lake and she turns to the voice — Gaia, that _voice_ — and it’s so dark out but she can make out the still far too familiar silhouette of the woman and she sees that Stacie is facing away from the lake out of respect. 

“If I’d broken with Hephaestus and followed you into the forest, Zeus would have blamed you. He would have punished you.” 

Aubrey is not sure she has any tears left to cry but her heart hurts and her lungs burn with the effort of breathing. 

“So I stayed. But I don’t want you to think that I didn’t follow you because I don’t love you. I told you I’d love you forever the night we put Pisces in the sky and I meant it. I still do.” 

Aubrey’s resolve breaks at the mention of that night because it’s confirmation that this is real, that Stacie is real and not just another cruel trick because there was nobody else there that night and nobody else who could possibly know the words they’d exchanged between kisses and then there are tears streaming down her face. 

Before she can do anything about Stacie’s declaration, the woman is gone. Aubrey tries to rush after her, but the Sun is coming out and she can’t find the trail of steps anymore so she stops and lets Stacie go, her tears dropping heavily to the soil beneath her feet. 

 

* * *

 

Persephone summons Stacie to the home of the Oceanids, citing a dispute with Poseidon and Stacie initially rejects the summons, not willing to leave her bed. Apollo hears of the invitation all the way in Delos and recognises it for what it is so he leaves his mother’s arms to return to Olympus and to urge Stacie to the water. 

Apollo’s pleading is the only reason Stacie goes, but when she gets to the edge of the ocean, she doesn’t find Persephone, doesn’t even find any of the Oceanides, is instead faced with Aubrey and all the breath leaves her lungs because it’s the first time she’s laid eyes on her since that day centuries ago when she’d left, and Aubrey doesn’t look anything like she did back then but Stacie immediately knows it’s her. 

“You…” Stacie starts, but she doesn’t know what else to say. 

“Kore owed me a favour,” Aubrey says, explaining Persephone's absence, and a flicker of a smile crosses Stacie’s face because Aubrey had always been good at reading her mind. 

They stand in front of each other for a long time before Aubrey finally speaks. 

“I left to release you,” Aubrey whispers.

“It didn’t work.” 

Aubrey looks down at the ground and tries to keep her tears at bay. “My father won’t hurt me but he could you and my love isn’t enough to spare you from him.” 

“You still love me?” 

“I will love you beyond the end of time.” 

“But you won’t come back to Olympus?” 

“No,” Aubrey says, as much as it pains her to do so. “I cannot bear to be apart from you but I cannot sit in that chair and pretend that all is well knowing that I need to stay away.” 

Her words confuse Stacie for a moment, but then realisation burns through her like a fire. 

“Aubrey,” Stacie says softly and Aubrey’s breath stutters at hearing her name fall from the woman’s lips. “We don’t need to be apart.” 

“What?” she asks, resolve thinning as hope fills her chest. 

“Forgive me, I thought Apollo had informed you.” 

“I have not seen my brother since…” She doesn’t finish the sentence because it’s not of any importance. “Informed me of what?” 

“He’s set me free.” 

The wording is vague, not alluding to whether it was Hephaestus or Zeus and the ambiguity sets Aubrey on edge again. 

“What?” 

“Aubrey, I am finally free to love.” 

Stacie looks so hopeful, her eyes as bright as Aubrey remembers them and her heart hurts. “I can’t go back,” she whispers and Stacie reels back in shock. 

“What?” she begs, heart dropping away from her body and she hadn’t thought she could feel more pain but she is, and she can feel blood rushing in her ears and feels short of breath and when Stacie gasps, Aubrey understands how her words have been misconstrued. 

“I can’t go back to Olympus,” Aubrey says quickly, stepping forward, intending to soothe Stacie with a hand but the Goddess lets out a large breath of relief, almost doubling over with the force. 

“Oh thank Gaia,” she mutters under her breath. 

“My heart still calls out for you and I would love nothing more than to be with you but I cannot return to my father’s kingdom and my throne. I’ve changed too much,” Aubrey pleads and Stacie’s eyes are warm again. 

“I understand.” 

“We’ll find a way,” Aubrey whispers as she steps closer and Stacie holds her breath. “I promise.” 

Aubrey reaches out and softly brushes her fingers along Stacie’s cheek, hand trembling and Stacie turns into the touch as tears track down her cheeks. Aubrey’s hands are shaking but she still reaches up to wipe away the tears, cupping Stacie’s face. 

“I’ve missed you, my love,” Stacie whispers reverently, eyes closing softly as she revels in Aubrey’s touch. 

“Stacie, please.” 

Stacie doesn’t need any more encouragement than that, stepping in close and kissing Aubrey. Stacie slides a hand into earth brown tresses as she kisses Aubrey, lips still as soft as Stacie remembers them. Stacie’s hands are needy as they move away from Aubrey’s hair, trailing down her body while trying to learn this new person and reconcile her with the old version of Aubrey, the one who she’d loved and lost. 

Aubrey breaks away with a gasp and Stacie notices she’s crying so she leans in and kisses away the tears, Aubrey’s arms tightening their hold on Stacie. 

“I’ve missed you so much,” Aubrey says around a sob. 

“Aubrey,” Stacie whispers softly. “Light of my life.” 

Aubrey surges forward and kisses Stacie, not sure how to reassure the woman with words but Stacie smiles against her, pulls her even closer and Aubrey pushes Stacie down onto the ground and strips her of her garments. Stacie returns the favour and when their bodies finally connect, warmth blooms inside both of them for the first time in centuries. 

They make love under the light of the Moon, who cries tears of joy as the two lovers are finally reunited. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments make me happy~


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